The U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release on February 26 that a Singapore-based tanker operator pleaded guilty in a northern California district court to illegally dumping oil bilge into the sea.
According to the department, Unix Line PTE Ltd.’s 16,408 gross-ton tanker, Zao Galaxy, dumped the oily bilge overboard between its departure from the Philippines on January 21, 2019, and arrival at the Port of Richmond in northern California on February 11, 2019.
The ship was carrying a shipment of palm oil at the time.
When U.S. Coast Guard officers boarded the ship at Richmond, they discovered that during the voyage a Unix Line-affiliated ship officer ordered the crew to discharge oily bilge water overboard using a contraption of drums, flexible pipe and flanges to bypass the vessel’s oil water separator. The discharges were not recorded in the Zao Galaxy’s oil record book.
Unix Line’s action violated the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, the Justice Department said.
The company’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 20 before U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar in Oakland, California.